novella

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An Early Work by Dostoevsky

White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky

December 9, 2024 by Tracy Leave a Comment

If you’re interested in reading classic literature, this is a good one to start with. Clocking in at under 70 pages (as least according to my Kindle), this novella is told as the diary of an unnamed narrator recounting a few nights with a young woman in Petersburg. Our narrator meets Nastenka on a street one night after rescuing her from a man who was accosting her. He had previously observed her on the bank of a river and noticed her crying, but she ran […]

Style over substance but not in a bad way

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

November 10, 2024 by CoffeeShopReader Leave a Comment

I know I’m a little late getting into this series, but I have to say I sort of get the hype about The Empress of Salt and Fortune. The world of the story is pretty interesting if a little underdeveloped, but I’m guessing that gets expanded in the later volumes of which I think there are now 3 more. Really, my only complaint is that the frame character and scenario is so underdeveloped. The here and now frame has a cleric and their talking animal […]

Filled my Earth Day square! (Double bingo)

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older

November 8, 2024 by Malin Leave a Comment

CBR16 Bingo: Earth Day (while this novella is set off-Earth, a lot of the plot involves conservation efforts to try to reintroduce healthy biodiversity on Earth) Mossa is investigating the mysterious disappearance, most likely a suicide, on one of the human colonies on Jupiter. Mossa discovers that the missing man worked at the colony’s university, where conveniently for her and her further investigation, Mossa’s ex-girlfriend is a scholar working with others to try to recreate the ecosystems of Earth before it collapsed. Pleiti is surprised […]

I have become a functioning part of the world.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

October 29, 2024 by carmelpie Leave a Comment

When I first started here, there was a detailed manual that taught me how to be a store worker, and I still don’t have a clue how to be a normal person outside that manual. ― Sayaka Murata, Convenience Store Woman Keiko is stuck in a dead-end job. She works at a Smile Mart (a chain convenience store) in Japan. She has worked there since it opened eighteen years ago. She is an exemplary worker, showing up on her scheduled work days, always early. She […]

“I hate having emotions about real humans instead of fake ones, it just leads to stupid moments like this.”

Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries #4) by Martha Wells

October 10, 2024 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

I have many grudges against the New York Times, dating back many years (even while acknowledging the amazing work its staffers can do), but I think the Times review of Exit Strategy almost perfectly describes who and what Murderbot is, “”a beautiful blend of exhausted cynicism and deep, helpless love”, because while Murderbot hates having feelings and would likely try to argue that it can’t love, it is the only explanation for the choices it makes throughout this book. In Rogue Protocol Murderbot goes […]

“Nobody grabs SecUnits. I hadn’t realized this was a perk until now.”

Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries #3) by Martha Wells